


Broken

by Deonara2012



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-10
Updated: 2012-12-10
Packaged: 2017-11-20 19:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/589008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deonara2012/pseuds/Deonara2012
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: Not mine, not true.<br/>Author's note: I'm not sure where it came from, except to say that it had to do with the song, I'm sure.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Broken

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine, not true.  
> Author's note: I'm not sure where it came from, except to say that it had to do with the song, I'm sure.

Halfway through "Be Mine" - his first rap, in fact, right after he took over from Hoya - DongWoo felt the stage shift under his feet. Too professional to let it distract him from dance or rap, he kept an eye on that area of the stage. Nothing seemed to happen, and if the others noticed it, they didn't show it either. It still bothered him.

It was actually worse at the end of the song, not too much of a surprise, but he couldn't deny the sudden feeling of impending... something as soon as Hoya took center stage for the last rap of the song. The boards dropped and Dongwoo acted without thinking. He stepped forward to shove Hoya into SungJong, knocking them both to the floor and out of danger. He twisted enough to see that WooHyun and SungYeol were safe and that SungKyu had shoved L back and stepped back himself, then the floor dropped out from under him and he fell. He knew he hit the ground, but luckily that knowledge - and the accompanying burst of pain - only lasted a split second.

 

They'd taken the time to change, at least, get the gunk washed off their faces and into regular clothes, before getting to the hospital. SungJong hadn't once let go of Hoya, which Hoya didn't seem to mind, and SungJong sat curled in the chair next to him now. L and WooHyun huddled together as well, both of them looking exhausted. SungYeol stared blankly at the wall, like he was still trying to figure out what had happened, and how. SungKyu seethed.

He only had so much power, so much he could do, but he'd push this. Push until they found out why Dongwoo had fallen, what had happened to the stage, and who was responsible for it. And then....

His thoughts balked at the 'make them pay' part; he didn't know what he'd do then. Because even if they made this person pay... would that really mean DongWoo was back with them? That was really all that mattered. And if not....

"I think he's waking up," SungYeol said, and everyone's attention snapped to the bed in the middle of the room they'd all been avoiding. The steady beeping from the machine monitoring DongWoo's heart beat sped up a little.

SungKyu could see how DongWoo struggled to wake up, trying to move, and then suddenly his eyes snapped open. "No...."

"We're fine, all of us," SungKyu said, moving to the bed and pressing a hand on Dongwoo's shoulder - one of the few places they said he wasn't too injured - to keep him from trying to get up. In a moment, the pain was going to hit....

"Everyone?" Dongwoo asked, his voice soft and as broken as the rest of him. His wide eyes found SungKyu's gaze, full of fear and pain.

"Everyone but you," SungKyu said, and gently wiped away the tears the trickled down the sides of DongWoo's head. He felt the others crowd around before he saw them, but he didn't try to make them back off.

"What happened?" Dongwoo's gaze shifted from one to the other, counting.

SungKyu waited until DongWoo looked back at him before answering. "The stage collapsed, taking you with it. They're looking into why it did."

DongWoo remained quiet a moment. "No one else was hurt?" His voice trembled, and SungKyu had to use all of his training to keep his from doing the same. Hoya pulled SungJong back to their chairs when he started to cry.

"No," SungKyu said. "No one else."

"Thank heaven." DongWoo shut his eyes, but the flow of tears hadn't stopped. "It hurts," he whispered.

"I know," SungKyu murmured brokenly, all control lost. "I'm sorry." WooHyun pulled L and SungYeol away.

The doctor sent them home soon after that, and back in their tiny dorm, SungKyu dried his tears and began to seethe again.

 

"The boards under the stage were rotten," SungYeol told Dongwoo a few days later, sitting close to his bed. "No one noticed. They're still working out how that happened." He'd barely made it into the room, with all the gifts from Inspirits filling almost every possible open space.

Dongwoo looked at him, eyes only half open. "I suppose it's dark down there," he said.

SungYeol wondered if he were on pain meds. He didn't make much sense, and DongWoo usually did. "Probably," he agreed.

"How is SungKyu holding up?"

SungYeol hesitated, not sure what or how much to say. "He's pretty driven," he said finally. Don't get him riled up, the doctor said. The way Dongwoo acted right now, SungYeol didn't think he could.

"About?"

"Getting all the information about why the stage collapsed."

"Oh." DongWoo closed his eyes for a while, then opened them again before SungYeol had to decide if he'd fallen asleep or not. "Tell him not to worry about it."

SungYeol snorted. "It won't stop him."

"Tell him anyway."

"I will. What should I tell him to focus on?"

"The next song. Keep working."

SungYeol knew the doctors didn't know how long it'd take Dongwoo to recover. He knew it wouldn't be soon, even if Dongwoo hadn't broken his back (oh, so close, the doctor had said, his face grave. Positioned just a bit differently and the outcome would have been so much worse). And he still urged them to go on. "I'm serious," DongWoo said into the silence. "You all have to keep going forward."

SungYeol ruffled DongWoo's hair, smiling through the pain in his chest at Dongwoo's outraged "yah!" that had far too little energy in it. Somehow he managed to say "I'll tell him" in a normal tone of voice.

"Maybe, if he hears it enough, he'll do it," Dongwoo murmured.

SungYeol snorted softly. "Maybe," he said.

Dongwoo gave a half smile, and his eyes closed. In a moment, his breathing evened out, and SungYeol sagged back. They said he'd sleep a lot. He took as much comfort from that as he could.

 

"We actually moved," SungJong said a week later. "It's bigger. SungKyu-hyung went through and took pictures. He said he'll bring them the next time he visits."

Dongwoo smiled, ignoring the pain that clawed at his back and legs. He didn't want SungJong to stop talking. His enthusiasm was the best thing, the drugs aside (and he'd started to refuse them as often as they'd let him), to keep his mind off it. "You didn't leave me behind, I hope?" he teased.

"Of course not! You're rooming with L and SungYeol. You got the biggest room, because there are three of you. And no bunks anywhere."

"That's a relief," Dongwoo said with a grin. "No chance of anyone falling out, then?"

"No guarantees," SungJong said with a matching grin. "L-hyung can manage to do it, I'm sure. I'll just keep track for you, how many times he does."

Dongwoo knew laughing would hurt, so he grinned. "Good. Where is it? Tell me about it."

SungJong launched into a description of the new dorm, the building it was in, the neighborhood, everything, jumping from one thing to the next in his enthusiasm. By the time he left, Dongwoo was utterly exhausted (not a bad thing) and just as clueless about the new dorm as he had been before SungJong had come in, but that didn't matter. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep easily, if only because he could still hear SungJong's voice in his ear.

When he woke up, Hoya sat next to the bed, staring at him. "That's creepy," Dongwoo murmured, and Hoya blushed and looked away.

"Ah. Sorry. I didn't even notice you were awake, which I'm sure you'd love to hear."

Dongwoo smiled, although it took an effort. Everything still hurt. "It's okay," he murmured.

"Thank you."

DongWoo stared at him. "You're welcome. For what?"

"For pushing me out of the way."

DongWoo nodded, trying to get comfortable, but the movement made his back convulse. "I couldn't just let you fall." It came out less firm than he'd hoped, but the pain...

"Hang on," Hoya said urgently, and seconds later a nurse came in. Dongwoo didn't hear what they said or see what they did, but a short time later, the pain faded, his back relaxing. "Sorry," Hoya murmured when she'd gone again. "I know you don't want the pain killers too much, but you were white. Your hair was almost as dark as mine in contrast."

"Oh," DongWoo said. "I guess that doesn't sound too good."

"It looked bad," Hoya said. "Have they said anything about how you're doing?"

DongWoo grimaced. "I'm supposed to start physical therapy soon, I think," he said. "Or something. But if it's like this...."

Hoya clasped his hand. "You'll do it," he said firmly. "And come back to us."

Or die trying, but DongWoo didn't say that out loud.

 

"I don't understand why I'm here," the man said.

SungKyu couldn't remember the man's name and honestly didn't care. "I want you to understand what you did," he said.

They stood in the hallway outside the room where DongWoo worked to get back on his feet - an apt thing to say, because so far, it was hard enough for him to sit for any length of time. The doctors were working on that, but nothing had improved yet. Patience, they kept saying.

"What am I looking at?" The man sounded impatient.

He didn't have a choice, either, because it was court-ordered that he come here, and SungKyu had no sympathy. "Remember the dancer?"

"Yes. He's good."

SungKyu pointed. "That's him. That's what happened when your stage collapsed."

DongWoo pulled himself up from the wheelchair, face set in concentration. He looked like that a lot, when they worked on choreography, when he tried to figure out a particular step, but this time it was to stand up. Not even move, from what L had said. Just to stand up and stay there.

It took longer than it should have, and SungKyu bit his lip to keep from crying. But he managed it, somehow.

If it took this long just for this, how long until DongWoo was up to their practices? It made SungKyu want to hit the man in the suit next to him, hit him until he had the same experience DongWoo went through now. He clenched his fists and his teeth, and firmly kept his eyes on his dancer. If he didn't see the man, maybe he wouldn't try to beat him to death.

They'd come at the beginning of the session, and the man was only obligated to be there for half an hour. In that time, SungKyu could see how hard DongWoo worked, how he struggled to do everything the therapist asked him to. When the session ended, the man still hadn't left, but he did follow when SungKyu grabbed his elbow and dragged him out of the way. He didn't want DongWoo to feel he was put on display.

L and WooHyun took DongWoo back to his room, past SungKyu and his 'guest,' and SungKyu let the man go as soon as they were out of sight. "Tell him I'm sorry," the man said, and SungKyu nodded at him.

"Thank you," he said. Not that it made any difference, but at least... he'd taken responsibility. And with luck, it wouldn't happen to anyone else.

SungKyu left the man to find his way out of the hospital, and went after DongWoo, catching up as L and WooHyun helped him into bed. He waited outside of the room so he didn't distract anyone. DongWoo moved so slowly that SungKyu had to bite his lip, but eventually the dancer made it into bed.

WooHyun caught his eye and shook his head; SungKyu didn't go in, watching as the two helped DongWoo settle into the bed. He fell asleep faster than he'd ever done, except maybe the days they were perfecting choreography and all of them wavered on their feet. WooHyun left L there and came out, closing the door behind him. "Was that him?"

So WooHyun had noticed. Not a surprise. L probably had, too, then. Hopefully DongWoo hadn't. "Yeah. He said to tell DongWoo he's sorry."

It made his teeth clench again, and WooHyun hugged him. "He'll be fine," he murmured into SungKyu's ear. "You should talk to LeeTeuk-hyung."

It came from nowhere. SungKyu pulled back and stared at him. "Why?"

WooHyun smiled. "Because of what happened to them. They've had how many out due to accidents? It took KyuHyun almost a year to recover."

A year. A year without.... SungKyu clenched his teeth again. "Maybe you're right," he said after a moment. "Maybe."

"Hyung. He will be okay."

SungKyu took a deep breath. "I know." It was all that mattered. But how he wanted to.... "I think I need a punching bag."

WooHyun nodded his understanding. "I'll get L."

 

The doctor let DongWoo go home when he could get around a little. Home, though, not the dorm, because home had no stairs, and he really couldn't deal with those. Yet. Not to mention the distinct lack of temptation.

On the other hand, of all the pictures he'd seen of their new dorm, they didn't have stairs either. Still... At least he wasn't in the hospital any more. And he wasn't tempted to do something he knew he couldn't yet.

In three days, he was bored stiff. There was only so much he could do - both because of the house, and because of his condition - and there was no one to talk to. Not a soul. Because SungKyu had gotten a burr under his saddle (finally, sheesh), Infinite were busy. DongWoo didn't ask what they worked on, just extracted a promise from Hoya to get him caught up when he got to that point.

So he mostly just... existed for the next while, not even counting how long, until walking didn't hurt. Eventually, moving wrong didn't mean a stab of pain in his back that landed him on his bed muttering curses into his pillow or on the floor muttering curses into his arms. It happened so slowly he barely noticed, and when he did, he went in for a checkup.

Because the doctor could allow him back with Infinite and he was dying to get back to them.

Restricted practice meant half days, and slow, but it meant he was dancing again, and DongWoo would take that. At this point, he'd take anything.

Including hugs, kisses (gee, thanks, SungYeol), and a glomp from SungJong that nearly knocked him over, and he didn't care. SungJong and Hoya took over the job of showing him around their new place - less new, now, but he didn't care about that either - and then getting him settled into his bedroom. That was about all he could handle. He lay down on the bed they'd said was his, and closed his eyes.

"Tired already?" Hoya asked, hint of worry in his voice.

"Sadly, yes," DongWoo said without opening his eyes. "It's stupid, but the smallest things wear me out. Let me have a good 15 minute power nap, and I'll be fine."

"Promise?" SungJong asked, sounding way younger than he normally did.

"Of course," DongWoo said, opening one eye to look at SungJong. "I promise. 15 minutes."

True to his word, he felt better after the nap, and went in search of the rest of Infinite. He found them huddled around a small TV (bigger place, not a bigger TV), watching something. "Sleeping Beauty awakes," L said wryly a moment later when DongWoo leaned on him to see what they were looking at.

"Hah," DongWoo said. "What are you watching?"

"Practice video," SungKyu said. "Hoya said he'd bring you up to speed as soon as you're ready."

"Yeah," Dongwoo said. "I'm looking forward to that."

"You'll take it slow," Hoya said firmly, looking up at him. "The doctor told us, too."

"Good. You can help," Dongwoo said, and pushed himself up. The lack of pain in his back still surprised him sometimes, so he moved carefully into the kitchen to find something to eat. When he came back out, they were still crowded around the TV, so he sat down next to them and watched as well, trying to figure out steps, timing....

"Stop it," WooHyun and Hoya both said.

DongWoo froze and looked at them. "What?"

"You're moving," SungYeol said with fond exasperation. "Which is making all of us move."

DongWoo snickered, but made sure he stayed still for the rest of the video.

It felt weird, to be on the outside of things like this. But he dealt with it, doing the best he could to get back into shape and regain his stamina. And finally, finally, he could join the others. Not for long, or for much, but it was something.

Slowly, things got better. He could stay longer and longer, the naps began to disappear, and the day he stayed with them the whole time ended in a celebration.

After that, things picked up. They all worked hard - harder, maybe - in adjusting to having him back in their formations, but that was minor compared to learning everything new.

At their next comeback they were seven again, greeted by cheering fans and their chants, on a stage that didn't move under anyone's feet.  



End file.
